Prior to the Postal Act of 1863, intercity letters were either held at the destination post office for pick-up or delivered by an independent contractor.

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The European Postal Services Act reserves letters of less than 100g for national mail operators but this restriction will be lifted in 2007.

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Its name is PAEA, or The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act passed by Congress, coincidentally enough, in 2006.

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The act also eased the restrictions on postal voting, a provision that has placed a large question mark over the probity of British electoral arrangements.

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Landis was a teammate of Armstrong on the Postal Service-sponsored team from 2002 to 2004, and his lawsuit was filed under the False Claims Act, the Justice Department said.

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"While we have actively participated in conversations around postal reform, and in particular, five-day delivery, we did not expect the USPS would act unilaterally, without congressional approval, and we await Washington's reaction and more details, " said its president, Mary Berner, in a statement.

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"I have 1, 900 postal inspectors nationwide, and we have 1, 400 uniformed postal police officers at our major facilities, and what I have told my people, unless it is an act of violence or something you have to respond to, you have one case you're working on, and that's this one, " said Kenneth Weaver, chief postal inspector for the U.S. Postal Service.

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